


Picture of your face in an invisible locket

by yourbuttervoicedbeau (kiwiana)



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Dialogue, David Rose is wildly insecure, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, POV David Rose, Prompt Fill, Secret Relationship, Tumblr Prompt, canon adjacent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:27:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26596018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiwiana/pseuds/yourbuttervoicedbeau
Summary: David can feel the words bubbling up his throat: ‘I kissed Patrick, I kissed Patrick, I kissed Patrick.’ All the joy and hope and anticipation from last night is fizzing under his skin, almost drowning out the skin-crawling knowledge that there’s a dead body just a few doors down, but then he hears his dad’s raised voice from next door and their conversation from yesterday comes flooding back to him. What if Patrick agrees that mixing a business relationship and a romantic relationship is a terrible idea? He was the one, after all, who asked if they could talk tomorrow. The last thing David wants to do is tell Alexis that they kissed and then have to explain to her that oh, actually, it’s not going to turn into anything.The secret dating AU maybe only I wanted 😅
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 56
Kudos: 352





	Picture of your face in an invisible locket

**Author's Note:**

  * For [danieljradcliffe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/danieljradcliffe/gifts).



> For the Tumblr prompt [intimacy prompts #57: secretly dating](https://yourbuttervoicedbeau.tumblr.com/post/629111422873370624/intimancy-prompts) from the wonderful danieljradcliffe. Thank you so much for this prompt, and for pointing out the absolutely tragic lack of secretly dating fic for this pairing! It’s one of my favourite tropes and I was delighted to add to a sparsely-used tag. 💞💞💞
> 
> Title is from Taylor Swift.

David can’t name the restless, thrumming energy that sends him barrelling towards the front desk when he gets back to the motel. He’s got a couple of hours before he has to meet Patrick at the café and he needs to have a shower and get changed, but he’s feeling jumpy and he doesn’t know why. He’s just hoping Stevie might have something joint-shaped she might be willing to share, to calm him down a little. When he walks in the door, though, it’s not Stevie behind the front desk but his dad, who looks up at him with a fixed customer service smile before it melts into something more awkward.

“David, hello! I thought you might be a guest.”

David frowns at him. “Why would you think I was a guest?”

His dad’s face cracks open into a wide smile. “Well, as it happens,” he says proudly, “we’ve actually sold out all our rooms tonight.”

“Are you sure you haven’t put the same reservation in twice?”

His dad looks taken aback. “Why does everyone keep— no, David, I didn’t put the same reservation in twice. We are fully booked.”

David wants to ask how there are so many people who want to stay  _ here, _ but something in his dad’s face stops him. Maybe it’s the fact that he can’t remember the last time he saw his dad looking this happy. Whatever it is, he drudges up some sincerity from deep within himself to say, “Wow, that’s great.”

“Thank you!” His dad beams. “And son, I’m sorry again that you’re going to be alone for your birthday tonight.”

“Oh.” David squirms, uncomfortable. “Actually, I’m going to get dinner with Patrick, so.”

His dad’s eyebrows travel all over his face before they settle into concern. “Your business partner Patrick?”

“How many Patricks do you think I know?”

“Right,” his dad says slowly. “It’s just— do you really think it’s a good idea to go on a date with your business partner?”

David stares at him. “It’s not a  _ date,” _ he says finally, pushing down the unhelpful memory of the tips of Patrick’s ears turning pink when he overspritzed the vegetables earlier. Patrick’s just a nice person, even if he does look at David sometimes like… 

No. Nope, he has to stop thinking like that. It’s a stupid, manageable little crush as long as he doesn’t think like that.

His dad is still frowning. “I just think mixing a business relationship and a romantic relationship isn’t a good idea, especially at this early stage of your store.”

“No one is mixing a business relationship with  _ anything,” _ David hisses. 

His dad raises his hands a little as if in supplication. “You don’t have to listen to me,” he says carefully. “I just think if you’re going to be romantically in business with each other—”

“Oh, my god!” David blurts out. “There’s nothing  _ romantic _ about it! It was a pity invitation because  _ you all forgot!” _

His dad’s face falls, and David feels the tiniest pang of guilt. He tries to shove it down, though, because— well, they  _ did _ forget. They look awkwardly at each other for a moment, but before either of them can say anything Stevie chooses that moment to come down the staircase, messenger bag slung over her shoulder. 

David makes a split-second decision. “Stevie, you’re coming tonight, right?”

She gives him a puzzled look. “Coming where?”

“To my birthday dinner.” He tries not to sound too desperate, but from the way her eyebrow tilts up he’s not sure he succeeds.

“I didn’t know it was your birthday.”

“Well, it is,” he says. “And it would be great if you could join us for dinner. Eight o’clock?”

Stevie shrugs. “Sure, I guess.”

“Great.” He waits for her to leave before turning back to his dad. “See? Not a date.”

His dad shakes his head. “All right. Sorry for jumping to conclusions.”

“It’s fine,” David replies, trying to ignore the twinge of… something… deep in his gut. He doesn’t know why inviting Stevie made him feel weird. After all, it’s really not a date.

* * *

It’s a date.

It’s a date, and the only thing more embarrassing than the fact he didn’t know it was a date is that Stevie had to  _ tell _ him it was. But some of the embarrassment is swept away as he looks up from the framed receipt in his hand and finds no hint of a joke or a tease in Patrick’s eyes, just nervous hope; the rest of it fades when Stevie extracts herself from dinner with more tact than he would have thought her capable of.

Still, there’s the tiniest flicker of doubt in the back of his mind all the way through dinner as they laugh and joke and somehow never run out of things to talk about even though they literally spend six days a week together, and there’s the tiniest flicker of doubt in the back of his mind on the quiet drive back to the motel, and there’s the tiniest flicker of doubt in the back of his mind right up until Patrick’s eyes drop down to David’s lips, just for a moment, and when David leans in and kisses him he feels Patrick relax into it and the doubt is finally extinguished.

Definitely a date.

He knows he’s grinning to himself when he walks into his room, and when Alexis looks up from the table and smiles at him he thinks she knows, but then she’s handing him a jar full of flowers and saying  _ happy birthday _ and he realises no, it’s not the smile of someone who knows something. She’s just being… nice. He’s still not entirely used to that. Before he can say more than  _ happy graduation _ his parents are bursting through the connecting door with a cake that is incorrect on multiple levels, and despite the offkey singing and the insistence on sharing the glory with not only Alexis’ graduation but whatever his parents had done today, David still can’t help thinking this was one of his better birthdays.

When he climbs into bed, he can still feel the ghost of Patrick’s kiss on his lips. He’s pretty sure he falls asleep with a smile on his face.

* * *

“So how was your dinner or whatever last night, David?”

David can feel the words bubbling up his throat:  _ I kissed Patrick, I kissed Patrick, I kissed Patrick. _ All the joy and hope and anticipation from last night is fizzing under his skin, almost drowning out the skin-crawling knowledge that there’s a dead body just a few doors down, but then he hears his dad’s raised voice from next door and their conversation from yesterday comes flooding back to him. What if Patrick  _ agrees _ that mixing a business relationship and a romantic relationship is a terrible idea? He was the one, after all, who asked if they could talk tomorrow. The last thing David wants to do is tell Alexis that they kissed and then have to explain to her that oh, actually, it’s not going to turn into anything.

“It was nice,” he says instead, hoping his voice is steady. “Just me and Patrick and Stevie.”

It’a not _entirely_ untrue. 

“Mm, that’s a little sad, David,” Alexis says with a pout.

“Fall off a bridge, please.”

Before Alexis can snap back their dad walks into the room and demands that they pack up, and that is enough to distract both of them from any more discussions about last night. 

* * *

He tries to prepare himself for any reaction from Patrick on his way to the store, but he’s not quite prepared for the rollercoaster of a conversation that actually occurs: Patrick blushes when David kisses him on the cheek and says  _ no regrets, _ which is good, but then there’s some very awkward confusion over David’s proposed sleepover and before he can clarify that he wasn’t actually suggesting they jump straight into bed (though… he wouldn’t say no, either), his mom bursts into the store and interrupts them. Patrick seizes the opportunity to go to the café, but thankfully he comes back in time to talk David’s mom down from her histrionics.

“Thank goodness your business partner has some sense, David,” she says as she tucks some hand cream into her purse, and David watches her leave before he turns back to find Patrick looking bemused.

“Does she know…?” Patrick starts, hesitant, and David shakes his head.

“I wasn’t sure if you wanted to, um.” He’s not sure how to finish the sentence but Patrick doesn’t seem particularly inclined to finish it for him. David can’t find the words, though, so he changes tacks entirely. “I know how this looks. Especially considering that you just told me you wanted to take things slow. But me wanting to stay at your place, it was more about what was happening at the—”

“I know that now,” Patrick cuts him off. “And I'm sorry for assuming that you just wanted to stay at my house to… to sleep with me, or whatever.” There’s a flush creeping up his neck as he says it, and David isn’t sure how to say  _ no, I definitely want to sleep with you _ while still going slow.

“No, um, it was purely circumstantial. You know, because of the dead body at the…” he says unconvincingly, and from the look Patrick gives him he thinks maybe Patrick understands what he’s really saying.

“You know,” Patrick says, his voice soft, “when you kissed me, that felt like my first time. All the things that you're supposed to feel, I felt them last night.”

There’s something raw in his voice and David has to look away for a moment to collect himself. “Well if we're being honest with each other,” he says slowly, “this was sort of like my first time too.” He pauses as disbelief flickers over Patrick’s face. “I mean it’s not,” he clarifies. “I've kissed like a thousand people. But nobody that I cared about, or respected, or thought was nice. So in a way, it’s like we're both starting something new.”

It’s too much, too honest, but Patrick doesn’t seem to think so. He just looks at David with wide eyes. “Thank you, David,” he breathes.

“So, um, because this is something new for both of us,” David continues, “I was thinking maybe it’s a good idea to keep it private for a little while.”

Patrick’s mouth quirks up in a grin. “Well, I wasn’t planning on taking out an ad in the Schitt’s Creek Gazette.”

“Okay, but you live with Ray.” When Patrick tilts his head in a clear question, David adds: “Telling him  _ is _ basically taking out an ad in the Schitt’s Creek Gazette. I just think it might be better if we keep this between ourselves. For right now.”

Patrick frowns. “Sorry, David, I’m a little confused. Are you not interested in us… dating, or whatever? Because if that’s the case—”

“Oh, my god, no!” David blurts out. When Patrick’s face falls, he adds quickly: “I mean, yes! I am very interested in us dating  _ or whatever.” _ He punctuates this with a little shimmy to try and make Patrick smile — which he does after a moment, though it looks a little reluctant. “I just think — we have a new business, and if people also know we’re dating, it becomes a huge  _ thing. _ It’s a lot of pressure?”

Patrick nods slowly. “That makes sense. Just while we find our rhythm.”

“Exactly.” David doesn’t add,  _ Once we ‘find our rhythm’ you’ll inevitably break up with me, and if people know it will be that much more humiliating, _ because he’s absolutely sure Patrick will try and reassure him and he’s not sure he can handle that.

“Okay, David.” Patrick’s nod is more decisive this time. “Hey, can you come and help me with something in the back?”

“Um, sure?” David’s a little confused — Patrick was the one who said they should always have someone on the shop floor — but he follows him into the back room. As soon as they’re out of sight Patrick turns around, stepping into his space with a wide smile, and David realises half a second before it happens what Patrick’s intention is. He feels Patrick’s hands settle on his waist and then Patrick is kissing him, soft and sure and like he has no intention of stopping anytime soon, and David brings his hands to rest on Patrick’s shoulders as he kisses back.

* * *

Schitt’s Creek is too goddamn small.

They make do, though. The next month finds them heading out to Elmdale for dates, where they’re less likely to see anyone they know. The unforeseen advantage to having to travel to go on dates is that on the way back, they’ll inevitably park up on a dark roadside somewhere and make out, hands wandering even if clothes never come off.

Back in Schitt’s Creek, they’re careful at first. Given some of the pointed remarks Stevie has made they’re probably not as subtle as they think they are, but Stevie also seems to be under the impression they’re mutually pining for each other and David is happy to let her continue thinking that. But the longer they’re together the harder it is to relegate kissing to only outside of business hours — first it bleeds into lunchtime and then into slow periods, the two of them pressed together in the stockroom, their kisses getting more and more frantic as time goes on without anywhere else for privacy.

In retrospect, they’re probably lucky that it’s Stevie who catches them. 

She seems suspicious enough when it’s just her and David, but then Patrick comes out from the stockroom and her eyes narrow in sudden understanding.

“Seems like you guys are really busy… at work,” she says with a pointed look at David before she turns her gaze back to Patrick and adds: “Ooh, what's that?”

Patrick looks around, and that’s when David realises exactly what she’s looking at.  _ Fuck. _ “What’s what?” Patrick asks.

“You’ve got a little red, um… is that a bug bite, or a little mouth-shaped sunburn on your neck?” Stevie’s eyes go wide with faux innocence. “Looks like a hickey actually.”

Patrick’s hand goes up to his neck as he looks at David in horror. “But it's not. It's not a— it's not a hickey. Right? Because we’re not  _ telling people _ — David, did you give me a hickey?”

“I’m sorry,” Stevie cuts in before David can respond. “What do you mean, you’re not telling people?”

“It just—” he looks to Patrick, but Patrick just gazes steadily back at him. “We just agreed, you know, it’s a lot of pressure on a new relationship when we’re also business partners, so…”

Something in the way Patrick is looking at him is slightly unnerving, so he glances to Stevie instead. To his surprise, she’s wearing a deep frown.

“So you’re keeping it a secret?”

“Private,” David corrects her quickly. “It’s not a— a secret, it’s just  _ private.” _

“Mm.” Stevie glances at them in turn. “So  _ private _ you’re making out like teenagers, in your store, in the middle of the day.”

“Okay,” David snaps. “It’s not like we have a lot of alternatives? I mean, we can’t go to the motel, because Alexis is basically the town crier, and Patrick is renting a room from Ray.”

“Who really likes to chat,” Patrick interjects as he buttons up his shirt.

“Yeah, so this is basically the only option.”

“I can think of at least one other option,” Stevie says pointedly before hesitating. “If you want, I’m happy to offer you guys my apartment for the night,” she adds, and David narrows his eyes. Something in the way she says it — a little stilted, pushing her hair awkwardly off her face — has him deeply suspicious.

“Why? Why would you do that?” he asks quickly.

“Because I care about you two?” Stevie shrugs.

That’s when David knows there’s something she’s not saying. It’s far too close to genuine human emotion for Stevie to express it without an ulterior motive. “And where will you be?”

Her eyes slide away as she says something about a spa in Elmdale, and then Patrick interrupts to ask if it would be awkward due to  _ David and Stevie’s history, _ which, ew, no. By the time they’ve tripped over themselves explaining to Patrick that they never had sex in her apartment, David is feeling slightly mollified.

Patrick turns to David with wide eyes. “I mean, we could consider it,” he says softly, and David looks at him long enough to register the slight desperation under the even-keeled tone. He turns back to Stevie.

“What exactly is the catch?”

“No catch,” Stevie says blithely. David hesitates a moment longer, still unsure.

“David!”

“What?”

Patrick turns to Stevie. “We’ll take the place.”

“Great,” Stevie says. “And I’ll take this.” She snatches the strawberries off the counter and heads for the door as David stares after her.

“So there’s a bit of a catch,” he mutters as Patrick moves past him, his hand on David’s lower back a second longer than strictly necessary, to help the customer who just walked in.

* * *

It turns out there is another catch, and that catch is a very over-familiar Jake. Patrick is clearly unsettled, and David explains and then explains again while they make their way through their fair share of Stevie’s whiskey.

“Sorry, I’ve just got to go through that one more time,” Patrick finally says after David has topped up their drinks and tried to change the subject to no avail. “So, you dated Jake, and then Stevie dated Jake, and at one point, you all—”

“No,” David interrupts quickly, desperate for Patrick to understand. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. We  _ almost _ ‘all’ but I said no.”

“Ah,” Patrick says, taking another large gulp. 

David plows ahead. “Because Stevie and I agreed that would be a bad idea and it appears that I'm the only one who held up my end of that agreement.”

Patrick frowns. “And you're upset about that because you still—”

David is horrified. How has he misrepresented the situation so badly? “No, I’m not upset,” he says. “I don’t want any of that — it's a principle thing. And we are getting sidetracked right now, okay, so who is feeling sexy?”

He leans in for a kiss, but Patrick turns his head so David’s face lands on his shoulder instead. “Getting there, for sure,” Patrick says. “I just, I know you wanted to keep this private and I…” he trails off, hesitating. 

“Oh, don’t worry about Jake,” David assures him. “He’s, um, pretty self-involved? If it’s not directly relating to him he’ll have forgotten by the morning.”

Patrick stares at him for a long moment. “I wasn’t worried about Jake  _ telling _ people, David,” he says finally. “I’m just…” his gaze drops to his glass. “I’m just wondering if maybe you had another reason to want to keep this secret.”

“Private!” David can feel his voice getting shrill and he takes a deep breath, hoping to stop the night from spiralling further out of control. “And no, I don’t want any of that. Or any of… anything else.”

A small smile curves Patrick’s lips. “Okay. I’m glad. You just seem pretty resistant to telling  _ anyone _ about us. Even your family.”

“Have you told your family?” David asks, and immediately regrets it when Patrick flinches. 

“No,” he whispers, his eyes darting away from David. “I haven’t.”

“Okay,” David says quickly. “Well that’s fine, because I haven’t either, so—”

“I haven’t told them I’m gay,” Patrick blurts out. 

There’s a long silence following this pronouncement, in which they both empty their glasses. David’s not actually surprised; it’s only been a month since  _ I’ve never done that before with a guy, _ after all, and Patrick is definitely the sort of person who likes to be sure about something. 

“That’s fine,” he says finally, and Patrick just looks at him. “Seriously, that’s not— that’s something you should only do on your own terms.”

“I want them to know,” Patrick croaks. “I  _ do. _ I just don’t know how to tell them, after quitting my job and breaking up with my fiancée and moving all the way here—”

“I’m sorry,” David manages after a moment. “Your fiancée?”

From the look Patrick gives him, David is very sure Patrick didn’t actually mean to say that. “Yeah,” he says finally. “I, uh, used to be engaged.”

“But you’re not now?” David has to ask — it wouldn’t be the first time — but Patrick’s jaw drops open. 

“Of course not now!”

“Okay,” David says quietly. “Good.” There are a thousand questions spinning around his head, but he can’t think how to articulate any of them. 

“David, I’m sorry,” Patrick says after a moment, and David blinks at him. 

“What for?”

“I didn’t mean to dump any of this on you tonight,” Patrick replies seriously. “I just didn't expect to be graced by the presence of two of your exes tonight, and it got me all…”

“Yeah, funny thing,” David says, the knot in his chest loosening slightly. “I didn’t expect to hear about your ex-fiancée tonight, so I guess we’re even.”

He shoots a small smile at Patrick, who returns it. “Well, then,” Patrick says, “given that we only have the apartment for one night, maybe it’s best if we lock that box back up for now.”

David grins at the sudden heat in Patrick’s eyes. “I think that’s a good idea,” he says softly, leaning in to kiss him.

* * *

After their night together they continue on more or less as they were, except this time their clothes are more inclined to come off when they make their way into the stockroom after closing. To David’s surprise, Stevie doesn’t seem to tell anyone about him and Patrick — not when he turns up at Asbestos Fest, not even when she goads David into calling Patrick his boyfriend using some truly horrific methods. 

And he and Patrick don’t talk about the fact that their relationship is still private. They don’t talk about it when Patrick gives him a cupcake for their one-month anniversary two days after their night at Stevie’s, and they don’t talk about it on their two-month anniversary when a stuffed bear appears on the counter with David’s name on it, and they don’t talk about it after the  _ boyfriends _ conversation (though to be fair, they both have their mouths otherwise occupied well into the evening), and they don’t talk about it when after three months Patrick hands him a box of heart-shaped candy with deep solemnity on his face and a twinkle in his eye. 

They don’t talk about it, even though David kind of wants to talk about it. He wants to be able to kiss Patrick hello in the morning, and maybe go around to his place to watch a movie, and hold hands on top of the table when they eat at the café. But their current arrangement seems to suit Patrick just fine, and he doesn’t want to rock the boat. 

Besides, he has more important things to worry about right now — like the fact that he keeps walking in on Patrick and Stevie having furtive conversations, and when he interrupts them they give him strange looks before clearly changing the subject entirely. But even that has been superseded by the fact that, for some ungodly reason, he’s currently at an  _ open mic night _ he somehow let Patrick talk him into having the store host. 

Patrick is up on stage tuning his guitar when David’s mom sidles up to him. “You’re awfully brave, allowing your beau to indulge himself like this,” she says, and David is so distracted with worry that it takes a beat for the meaning of her words to sink in. 

“My beau? How did you—”

“Oh, Alexis told me weeks ago,” she says casually.

“I’m sorry,  _ Alexis _ knew?”

Before his mom can respond, Patrick is speaking into the microphone again. He looks right at David as he says, “I would like to dedicate this to a very special someone in my life.” David freezes, but Patrick doesn’t say anything else before he starts to play a tune David doesn’t recognise. David pulls out his phone and shoots a quick text to Alexis:

_ Why did you tell Mom that Patrick is my ‘beau’? _

He slides the phone back into his pocket, still unsure what Patrick is playing. And then Patrick starts singing — and suddenly, David knows. 

_ “I call you when I need you and my heart’s on fire,” _ Patrick sings, his eyes locked on David, and David recognises two truths in rapid succession: Patrick is actually a damn good singer, and Patrick wants people to know about them. 

He has been so, so stupid.

He tries to contain his reaction to the song, but by the way his mom lays a hand on his arm and squeezes lightly he’s almost certainly not succeeding. It’s a deeply romantic gesture, and David is for once able to shove down the part of himself murmuring  _ you don’t deserve this _ in favour of just basking in it. He’s dimly aware of his mom having a whispered conversation with Roland and Jocelyn off to his side, but all he can focus on is Patrick, who still hasn’t looked away. 

By the time the song finishes David is struggling to hold back tears, and he’s sure he claps louder than anyone. Patrick gives the audience a shy smile, placing the guitar back on its stand and inviting Bob to the stage before stepping away from the mic and heading for David. 

“So, was that—” is all he manages to get out before David grabs hold of his shirt and pulls him in for a deep, frantic kiss. He can feel Patrick grinning into it, his hands coming to settle on David’s waist and tugging him closer, and David only pulls away when he feels a buzzing from his pocket. With an apologetic smile at Patrick, who mostly just looks dazed, he pulls it out to find an answering text from Alexis. 

_ Um, duh David. I saw the way that cute little button face looked at you while you were doing the number. OBVIOUSLY you guys are together.  _

“Anything important?” Patrick asks.

David looks at him, a grin spreading uncontrollably across his face. “Just my sister. Apparently you’re not as subtle as you think you are.”

Patrick shakes his head with a small smile. “Well luckily I don’t need to be subtle anymore,” he says before hesitating and adding cautiously, “right?”

David loops his arms over Patrick’s shoulders, pulling him close. “Right,” he says, before leaning in to kiss the worry right off Patrick’s face. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Come and find me on [Tumblr](http://yourbuttervoicedbeau.tumblr.com/).


End file.
